Gustave Moreau was born on April 6 1826 in Paris. He was a symbolist painter, his work is characterized by his exceptional detail and fantastical content. His work typically depicted erotic paintings of mythological and religious subjects (Brittaniaca,2021).
He began his art education at École des Beaux-Arts then he continued on as an apprentice. He had one strong influence on his work which was Theodore Chasseriau his master. Chasseriau was known for his portraiture and religious paintings. Moreau respected his master highly and exercised what he learned from him in his work (Britannica,2021).
Moreau’s work used heavy impasto and he painted incredibly intricate and ornamental scenes. He also played with vibrant colours and beautiful lighting in his work. He seemed to include a few ‘favorite’ colours in his work, one being a vibrant blue-green accent colour which he used in a lot of his pieces.
Gustave Moreau has said this about his work- “But I am less concerned with expressing the motions of the soul and mind than to render visible, the inner flashes of intuition which have something divine in their apparent insignificance and reveal magic, even divine horizons, when they are transposed into the marvelous effects of pure plastic art.” I think he represents his work well, his work is an offering of his insight and perception of whatever he is painting (Art Net, n.d). It ties well with his themes of mythological and fantastical subjects, he’s revealing his inner imagination.
As I was looking through different artists I thought I had settled on one until I decided to look up one final name, Gustave Moreau. I was instantly attracted to his work. The detail in his work is immense, I love feeling overwhelmed by looking at his work. It is so intricate and delicate that I never fully take in the image whenever I look at his work. I love his use of colour especially the sea blue-green that seems to appear in multiple pieces of his work. I respect artwork that details a story and his work definitely expresses this.
Works cited:
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Gustave Moreau”. Encyclopedia Britannica, 14 Apr. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gustave-Moreau. Accessed 2 November 2021.
http://www.artnet.com/artists/gustave-moreau/the-conquest-1c0EUuF0vP7UD1Bx6D2Bbw2